Kirby and the Rainbow Curse Is so Cute You Could Just Eat It up

February 20, 2015

Neila Karassik

Nintendo

If there was ever a video game that looked so delectable you just wanted to gobble it like a big ol’ slice of cake, it’s Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. The entire game looks like cake frosting. As with pretty much all of Nintendo Wii U’s recent slate of exclusive titles, whatever technical feats critics say the system lacks, it more than makes up for with painstakingly gorgeous art direction that, in terms of unadulterated adorableness, is second to none among current gen consoles.

Like 2005’s pretty-great Kirby: Canvas Curse for the DS, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse relies entirely on stylus controls. It looks like a 2D platformer, but it doesn’t play like one. Depending on how you feel about that, this is both good and possibly bad. There will be times when you’ll want to freely explore a level’s beautiful scenery, but here Kirby’s mode of travel is multi-coloured rope drawn with a limited amount of rechargeable ink for him to roll his doughy little body across.

If at first you feel a little daunted by such unconventional controls, don’t worry, with some practice you’ll be barreling across the stage, building defensive walls, grabbing stars, and even transforming into a giant bullet to thwart path-blocking enemies. But it ain’t all peaches and gravy. Like last year’s hugely underrated Wii U title, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse’s
innocuous facade can be deceiving when things get intense and your lives start to drop in vast numbers.

There are over two dozen lengthy stages to complete and a slew of collectable to acquire. If you move at a brisk enough speed, the whole shebang should last a somewhat-fleeting six to eight hours. Still, there’s no shortage of variety between each world, which take Kirby across an assortment of sandy, woodsy, watery, cloudy, and lava-y backdrops.

If you’re starved for more content or ways to play, tap your Kirby, King Dedede, or Meta Knight amiibo on your GamePad to receive tasty upgrades that we obviously won’t spoil, but feel free to read all about them here. You can also enlist up to three additional players to control Waddle Dees (via Wii Remote), which can carry Kirby over obstacles and help fend off enemies.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse may not be the system’s next Super Mario 3D World-calibre killer app, but it’s a worthy addition to anyone’s Wii U library. The more I played, the more pleased I was with the game’s unique control scheme. If there’s one nit to pick it’s that everything is too darn gorgeous to be seen mostly on the GamePad, which is where all the action occurs. In fairness, this is easily one of the prettiest game’s to watch someone else play.